Funerals are fairly expensive affairs that the funeral industry takes advantage of by innovating more ways to throw away money on ego trips for the dead by making family members feel guilty for not "respecting" the deceased. The money would be far better used to purposes useful to the living. An elaboration of the tombstone to preserve not only the face but all aspects of the memory of the deceased with digital accounts of the lost life might be valuable but at the moment technology seems helpless to produce a recording method that will not decay over a period of a few decades making the attempt useless.

I read somewhere that someone had calculated the amount of land that would have been covered by cemeteries if everyone who had ever lived was laid to rest in a normal sized plot. I wish I could remember where. . .

I have long held the opinion that one should make his mark on the world while he is living, rather than waiting until death. To that end I have instructed my family that under no circumstances am I to be buried on overly expensive real estate or are they to waste granite that could be better used for flooring to mark my passing. Just torch me and scatter the ashes.

I have always wanted to be buried face down so everyone can kiss my caboose does that include a pic of it--perfect--just joking I would never pay for such a useless waste of material! Put a trashbag or milk jug out in the sun and watch how long it last--not more than a month then hard and brittle!

If you go to Mt. Hebron Cemetary in Flushing, Queens, you will see tombstones with large portraits of the deceased on them. Full color, like a huge photograph. So gravestone technology is keeping up already.